Past Events

SummerWorks 2009: THE MIDDLE PLACE
by Andrew Kushnir

Directed by Alan Dilworth
Featuring Akosua Amo Adem, Antonio Cayonne, Paul Dunn, Jessica Greenberg, and Kevin Walker.

THE MIDDLE PLACE is the documentary theatre piece that emerged from on-camera interview at a youth shelter located in one of the GTA’s roughest neighbourhoods. Unexpectedly funny and poetic, the play deconstructs both an obscure part of our own community along with the all too familiar stigma surrounding youth and the homeless.

AKOSUA AMO-ADEM
Akosua Amo-Adem is a recent graduate of York University’s Theatre program earning a BFA Honours degree in Acting. This is her first appearance at Summerworks and she is thrilled to be a part of The Middle Place appearing as “Dee” and “Kaaliyah”. She would like to thank the members of the cast and crew for their support and hard work in putting this show together. She would also like to thank Andrew Kushnir, Alan Dilworth, and all the members of Project: Humanity for creating, directing, and believing in this play. The journey has been long, but well worth it. Enjoy!
WINNER OF BEST EMERGING ARTIST AT SUMMERWORKS 2009!

ANTONIO CAYONNE
Antonio Cayonne is a Toronto based actor and a graduate of the Ryerson Theatre School. In addition to acting, Antonio is the Director of Community Development for Project: Humanity Inc., a company he co-founded that 'raises social awareness through the arts', and is the General Manager of surface/underground theatre. Most recently, Antonio has been a producer for the Toronto premiere of Den Of Thieves by Stephen Adly Guirgis presented by surface/underground theatre, has been seen on-stage in ahdri zhina mandiela’s vision of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and did some original writing for Susan Cuthbert’s show The Magic of Mozart. Antonio is honoured to be a part of this cast and creative team.

PAUL DUNN
Selected acting credits include East of Berlin (Tarragon Theatre + tour), Hana’s Suitcase and Blue Planet (LKTYP), The Goat (Canadian Stage), After the Orchard (NAC), Snowman (Buddies in Bad Times) and six seasons at the Stratford Festival (Caesar and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Elizabeth Rex, Glenn). His playwriting credits include Dalton and Company (Tarragon Playwrights Unit 2008), Offensive Shadows (Studio 180/ SummerWorks 2007 - Audience Choice Award), High-Gravel-Blind (Stratford Festival) and BOYS (Theatre Direct). He is a guest instructor at (and graduate of) the National Theatre School, and a founding member of the Gay Heritage Project.

JESSICA GREENBERG
Jessica was most recently seen in Toronto in Blackbird (Studio 180 Theatre/Canadian Stage Company), You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (LKTYP) and Offensive Shadows (Studio 180 Theatre). Other stage credits include Hana's Suitcase, Blue Planet, Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (LKTYP), Mary's Wedding (Thousand Islands Playhouse), Salt-Water Moon (Theatre in Port), Pinocchio (Theatre New Brunswick), The Passion of the Chris (Studio 180/Toronto Fringe), Jack or the Submission (Manhattan Ionesco Festival), The Metamorphosis (Jose Quintero Theatre) and A Child's Christmas in Wales (Willow Cabin Theatre). Jessica is a Core Artistic Member of Studio 180 Theatre and heads their education and outreach initiatives. She is a graduate of Circle in the Square Theatre School and completed an acting apprenticeship at the Actors Theatre of Louisville.

KEVIN WALKER
Kevin is very excited to be involved and entrusted with bringing Project: Humanity's powerful, new Canadian work to life. He is grateful to have an opportunity to work with some very dedicated and insightful theatre artists. This is Kevin's second time participating in the SummerWorks Festival, having directed Finer Noble Gases through his co-company, The Bleecker Theatre in 2007. Recent stage work includes playing Sebastian in Twelfth Night and Colin in The Secret Garden for Resurgence Theatre Company. Kevin has also produced several shows for The Bleecker Theatre, including Harold Pinter's The Lover, in which he also performed. Currently, Kevin is pitching his feature film, The Cull, and an animated series entitled The Witches. He is also in the works of releasing his first record. Kevin is a graduate of Ryerson Theatre School.

ANDREA SCHURMAN
Recently: SM of Pobby & Dingan (LKTYP), Toronto the Good (Factory), Born Ready (Obsidian) and The Pillowman (BirdLand/Canadian Stage); ASM of  Of the Fields, Lately and A Raisin in the Sun (Soulpepper), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Misery(Canadian Stage) and Intimate Apparel (Obsidian). 
Elsewhere: Theatre Passe Muraille, Nightwood, Tarragon, Marquis Entertainment, Mirvish, Stratford Festival, The Grand Theatre, Theatre New Brunswick, Tapestry New Opera, Opera Ontario, ShakespeareWorks, Resurgence, AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival, Toronto Operetta Theatre and Ross Petty Productions.

 

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Shirts Off: The Drawstring Edition
3rd Annual Clothing Drive

Date: Sunday May 24th, 2009

Location: Archeo Trattoria, 55 Mill St in the Distillery District

Time: 7pm to 11:30pm

Featuring: Dylan Murray, Peter Katz, The Emotionally Unavailable Mariners, Ryan Lee, Catherine Murray, Kaitlin Torrance, Bain & Bernard Comedy, Truth Is..., Tomy Bewick, Reza Jacobs, Andrew Kushnir, Bryce Kulak and Antonio Cayonne.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donations we like: jeans, slacks, khakis, dress pants, shorts, skirts, dresses, running shoes, dress shoes, heels, boots, tees, sweaters, cardigans, vests, sweatshirts, blouses, tanks, bras.

Donations no one likes: socks, underwear, stained clothes, moth eaten clothes, ripped and torn clothes, 80s clothes, things so gross that you're just trying to get rid of them clothes.

This year's shelters include: Good Sheppard, Youth Without Shelter, Horizons, Pathways, Eva's Initiatives (3 locations), YWCA (2 locations), Cornerstone, Sistering, Christie Ossington Refugee Center, Sojourn House, Covenant House.

We THANK YOU in advance for all your wonderful donations. Trust that your clothes will have nice new homes. If you would like to further volunteer, please contact Antonio @ 647.349.1699

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A Bright Idea shedding light on fashion

Date: Sunday September 28th, 2008

Location: The Lennox Contemporary Gallery,

12 Ossington Avenue

Time: 8pm to 10:30pm

Our 2nd Annual Clothing Drive inspired our first ever Fashion Installation. Un-usable clothes were given to local designers to create some new couture. In typical PH style, we're turning the fashion world on it's side by showing the pieces through artistic fashion installations using dance, opera, and theatre to showcase the clothing.

Designers for the event are Eryn Reid, Sharon Hann + Copper Coin Arts, Cruz & Clarke Designs, Freedom Clothing, and Paper People Clothing.

This event is a platform to promote green-friendly solutions to everyday issues. We will be introducing you to a network of local innovators, and encouraging you to find you own path in the world of green footprints. To help you do this, Botanical Paperworks has provided each person with a plantable piece of seed paper on which to take note of any ideas that inspire.

Admission to the event is $10 PLUS an incandescent light bulb which will be exchanged at the door for an energy efficient compact fluorescent bulb which have been generously donated by Toronto Hydro.

Come and experience the after-life of old clothes.

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Clothing Drive....Shirts Off! Spring On!

Date: Sunday May 25th, 2008

Location: Archeo Trattoria in the Distillery District

Time: Doors at 7pm, Show at 8pm, Bands 9:30pm

Our 2nd Annual Clothing Drive encourages you to clean out your closet and bring us your gently used clothing. We'll deliver it directly to those who need it, making sure it's not resold or thrown away. Your clothing will go to Youth Without Shelter, Good Shepard Centre, Red Door Family Shelter, YWCA, Horizons, Sistering and Pathways Drop in Center.

Enjoy an evening of music, dance, poetry and theatre with our talented pool of artists and give back to your community through a great evening of art.

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Leaping Out

Date: Sunday March 2nd, 2008

Location: Lula Lounge - 1585 Dundas St.West (map)

Details: LEAPING OUT is a fundraiser profiling two of our works in progress and a handful of talented P:H related artists.

We will be showcasing:

The De-Shelter Project by Andrew Kushnir, a documentary style theatre piece based on the lives of marginalized youth, and The Process Work by Catherine Murray and Meghan MacNeil, a collaborative mixed medium art performance rooted in improvisation.

The event is to help support our ongoing volunteer initiative at Youth Without Shelter.

About The De-Shelter Project and our volunteer initiative:

For three months in 2007, Project: Humanity, accompanied by playwright/actor Andrew Kushnir, volunteered at Youth Without Shelter where we taught drama and improv, while helping to build communication skills and confidence. During that time we got to know these youth, got to experience their ups and downs, and truly got to hear their voices.

"There is something inherently captivating about youth in a shelter – they are positioned at a crossroad and you don't know which way they'l turn. Many come from detention centers, from abusive homes or relationships, from patterns of self-abuse. They are survivors of one kind or another and many of them are haunted and leery. And yet, surprisingly, so many of them betray a tenacious and instinctive belief in change. They do want better for themselves. They try to go to school. They try to clean up their act. They try to be members of an inconvenient community. They are beautiful in their struggle. You root for them to succeed. You want them to move out into their own apartments. You celebrate a little when they do. And you mourn a little when they're discharged before they can." —playwright Andrew Kushnir

About The Process Work:

Rooted in the fundamentals of improv –listening, responding, and reacting organically– The Process Work is an experimental collaboration of 4 artistic mediums. The core group of artists have been rehearsing together using their unique means of expression to influence each others art form into creating a unified dynamic. The rehearsals themselves serve to get each artist accustomed to the vocabulary other artists use whether that be musical, lyrical, movement based, or visual. The journey is about the process and is driven by an understanding that if all the artists are present, then the artistic give and take will give way to create what feels like a finished piece. Each artist knows what they will bring to the table, but have yet to discover where what they bring will fit into a performance. The product is the process.

Featured Artists:

Musicians: Project Blue

Visual Artist: Jordan Bowden

Poets: Tomy J. Bewick and Antonio Cayonne

Choreographers: Meghan MacNeil and Catherine Murray

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Clothing Drive... Shirt's Off we're Back!

Date: Sunday, May 27 2007

Location: Archeo Trattoria in The Distillery District

Time: Doors at 7pm, Show at 8, Bands 9:30

Featured Artists: Peter Katz, Dylan Murray, Belladonna, MP, Araya Mengesha, Ryan Lee, Natalie Lisinska,Andrea Spaziani, Laura Burns, Beth Helmers, Ben Clost and Project: Humanity

So often, clothes don't get to those in need. We'd like to encourage you to do your spring cleaning and bring us your gently used clothing. Let us find them a new home with some very worthy organizations where you can trust the clothes will go to those in need, and not into a store. Youth Without Shelter, Good Shepard Centre, Florence Boothe Center, Red Door Family Shelter.

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Tsunami Artistic Relief Effort (2004)

Location: Ryerson Theatre School

Featured Artists: Peter Katz, THIS, JP Sunga, JE Danse, Proxy Set, Natalie Lisinska

Three rooms simultaneously showcased live theatre, dance, comedy, poetry, visual art and music allowing attendants to move around as they pleased and take in the art in a casual and accessible environment. The $3000 raised that evening was split between the Red Cross' Tsunami Relief Effort and their local initiatives.

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Save Darfur (2005)

Location: Revival

Featured Artists: Peter Katz, Dylan Murray, Sweet Thing

This was a co-venture with Save Darfur 2005. The event raised money for Doctors without Borders who were present at the event and delivered a speech written by Irwin Kotler, Justice Minister of Canda. The evening featured musical artists as well as live graffiti artists.

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Prison Performances (1999-2005)

Location: Invictus, Syl Apps, TYAC, Eva’s Place, Yonge Street Drop-in Center

Featured Artists: Project: Humanity members

The plays were written and performed by Project: Humanity using light topics and simple messages to deliver hope and the theme of helping others. In 2005 P:H partnered with Loyola High School and invited students from their drama department to join the show.

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